Vinnie Farrell

Vince Farrell was a basketball referee who officiated at the 1952 and 1960 Olympic Games. He also officiated at four Pan-American Games. Farrell was part of a major incident at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics when he officiated the France-Uruguay game. France won in the last seconds after a call by Farrell. After the game Uruguayan players attacked Farrell, beating him, kicking him, and causing him to lose four teeth and spend four days in the hospital. He was later given a number of sportsmanship awards for the gracious manner in which he accepted Uruguayan officials’ apologies.

Farrell was a well-known sports official in the United States. In addition to basketball, he officiated football (American) games for the Eastern Intercollegiate Football Officials Association (EIFOA). For many years Farrell conducted the examination for college officials who wished to join EIFOA and high school officials who wished to join the New York chapter of EIFOA. Farrell ran the time clock at the 1972 Army-Navy football game.

Farrell spent time as a truck driver for a construction company but later served as superintendent of athletics and physical education for the Newark Board of Education for almost 40 years. Renato Righetto, a Brazilian player who first met Farrell when Righetto played at the 1951 Pan-American Games and then became a referee, later stated that he wanted to some day become as good an official as Farrell.